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Friday, July 6, 2012

Bad Mommy by Willow Yamauchi book review


As long as there have been people on this earth there has been pressure placed on women to be a "Good Mommy". Once we have children, that's exactly what we strive so hard to be! Women put a lot of pressure on themselves, and each other for that matter, to be the "best" mommy. We compete with each other, some mommies more than others, by comparing our children to those of the other mommies. We enroll our children in activity after activity so we can say we've raised the most "well rounded" children. We place excess pressure on our kids in school so we can say we've raised the "smartest" kids. Little did we know, that whatever we do, all we really are is a "Bad Mommy". In this book, "Bad Mommy" author Willow Yamauchi teaches us that we are really just stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to raising our kids!

With chapters such as "Bad Mommy Gains Weight" and "Bad Dental Care Mommy", Willow goes through each aspect of birthing and raising children, from conception all the way to your child moving out on their own. She teaches us that there are many, many ways of parenting and that no one way is really the right one. There are pros and cons of each decision that you will make and inevitably, someone will think you're a "Bad Mommy" because of it! Someone, somewhere out there will criticize us for every decision that we make! Willow teaches us to take these criticisms with a grain of salt and while making your own educated decisions about all aspects of your child's life, you should feel good about them. We need to stop relying on what society says is right and just do what makes us feel good about it. Willow writes about these subjects with humor and definitely doesn't beat around the bush! She really tells it like it is and that is refreshing to me.

At the end of each chapter, we are introduced to a couple of admitted "Bad Mommies" who tell of their experiences based on that chapter's category. These stories helped me to feel like I was not alone in the decisions that I've been making as a parent. These are real stories, from real women and it's nice to know that I'm not the only one out there making mistakes!

Here is an extremely funny except from the book and just one example of Willow's straightforwardness:


"...Positioning your baby to sleep is likewise ripe grounds for showing your failure as a parent. Sleep positioning rules have changed no less than three times in the last ten years. First, babies were to sleep on their tummies so that vomit would spill out their darling little mouths and they would not choke to death. Then, no, that was terrible! Babies had to be propped on their sides so that vomit could drain out of their darling mouths with no choking. Of course, a year or so later, this changed again and all good mommies put their babies to sleep on their backs so that the vomit can drain out of their darling little mouths and they will not choke to death somehow (like babies actually stay in the position you put them to sleep in anyway). Babies not sleeping on their backs will likely get SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) and die, the direct result of poor sleep positioning by their bad mommy. Likely by the time this book is published, babies will need to sleep suspended upside down from the left ankle
only, which will allow for optimal vomit drainage."



It's my opinion that all moms should read this book. We all need to hear that we are all going to be a bad mommy, so just relax and enjoy your children. They will turn out just fine. Now that I've read this amazing book, I am proud to be a "Bad Mommy".

Thank you to author Willow Yamauchi for allowing me to read and review her book. Your book has truly changed my outlook on parenting for the better, and I appreciate that!


Until next time,

Hugs,















6 comments:

  1. This sounds like a really interesting and well thought out book. It's even good for us "non mommies" to read. These are some of the things I fear will happen when I have a child. It's good to read a book that will put a reassurance in my abilities.

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  2. Sounds like a really refreshing book! It's easy to beat ourselves up if we listen too much to criticism. Also, we forget that our kids have a will of their own. How they turn out has a lot to do with their decisions, too.
    I feel better about leaving my babies on their tummies to sleep now. I used to feel terrible, because I had heard that can cause SIDS; but they looked more comfortable on their tummies. And, they survived! Thanks for a great review!

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  3. This book sounds great! I went through this when my boy finally started sleeping in his crib. He would NOT sleep on his back! He still doesn't and I'm over everyone telling me SIDs ill get him, he sleeps soundly on his tummy every night, just like I did!

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  4. Sounds like a fun book, but I truly think there are few "Bad Mommies" out there. We all do the best we can with the knowledge we have and we lose sleep at night wondering if we are doing a good enough job. I think if I understood this review correctly though the bad mommy is more of a tongue in cheek thing, and that at some point, some where along the line, some one will consider us a bad mommy because we did x, y, and z instead of a, b and c. I think we just have to accept that not everyone is going to agree with our methods and if that makes us a bad mommy in their eyes, so be it.

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  5. this book looks like a fun one to go through. the sleeping thing is totally true! i had my kids ten years apart and with my first i bought a 'wedge' sleep positioner (used it like once btw) because it was all about the perfect "side position" - but for my twins it was all about sleeping on the back. how we really slept was in the chronic nursing position. luckily they are all still alive and well! great review!!

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  6. This sounds like a fantastic book! Totally up my alley. By chance have you read "I was a Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids"? Lots of laughs in that one. Will have to check "Bad Mommy" out!

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